George
Weah Wins Liberia Presidential Election

Former football superstar, George Weah has won Liberia’s presidential
election. The former FIFA World Footballer of the Year took to his Facebook
page to react to provisional results of Tuesday’s presidential runoff polls in
Liberia.

“My fellow Liberians, I deeply feel the emotion of all the
nation. I measure the importance and the responsibility of the immense task
which I embrace today.

“Change is on’’, Weah wrote shortly after the results were
released by the National Elections Commission (NEC), putting him in a
comfortable lead to be the next president of Africa’s oldest republic.

Weah, who ran on the
platform of the opposition Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) is way ahead
with 720,023 votes or 61.5 per cent.

His rival and incumbent Vice President, Joseph Boakai, of the
ruling Unity Party (UP) is far behind with 451,088 votes representing 38.5 per
cent.

The Chairman of NEC, Mr Jerome Korkoya, who released the
results at a news conference in Monrovia on Thursday, said 98.1 per cent of the
total votes cast in the polls had been counted.

With pending results from just 104 or 1.9 per cent of polling
places, Weah has sealed a massive victory as the successor to outgoing
President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.

The announcement was greeted with massive celebrations by Weah’s
supporters in the capital, Monrovia, and across the country.

Political observers have attributed Weah’s “victory’’ to a
number of factors including alleged divisions in the ruling Unity Party and
secret backing from Johnson-Sirleaf for the soccer icon.

“Johnson-Sirleaf has not campaigned for her vice president,’’
said Mr Patrick Korna, a political analyst.

“Since the start of political campaigning in July, she has
not been visibly involved; she has not shown up in any of the rallies held by
her vice president.

“The Unity Party says it remains one body, but it has two
factions – President Sirleaf’s faction and Joseph Boakai’s faction’’, Korna
said.

Besides, the outgoing administration is dogged by widespread
allegations of corruption, nepotism, waste, fuelling the people’s hunger for
change.

Meanwhile, the European Union Election Observation Mission
has described the successful runoff polls as a “milestone achievement’’ for the
country’s democracy.

“An undeniable aspect of this significant election is the
collective effort that underpinned its realisation,’’ the mission said in its
preliminary report issued on Thursday.

“Voters, civil society, Liberian institutions, in
particularly NEC, the judiciary and the Liberian National Police, the domestic
observers and ECOWAS all contributed to make this important for Liberia’s
democracy possible,’’ it said.